What if everyone has been wrong about eating jacks?

[justletmein]

Hell I've eaten some fantastic shark steaks, I may as well try a Jack one day.

Can you please elaborate on the *exact* recipe and cooking method so I don't choke? LOL

[crawdaddct]

It depends on what you like to eat or have a taste for. Just like I love to catch trout, but unless we are cooking them the same day or at least in a couple of days, I don't keep them. My favorite fish is flounder and snapper. I ate Jack when I was a kid, my uncle would grill up anything. Shark, ray, big uglies, bull reds, ling, kings, alligator, turtles, jacks, we ate them all. I had to throw in the alligator and turtle. Us kids always got the alligator ribs, not much meat. He would bleed out the Jacks in the surf, watching for sharks. They were okay. I don't and wont keep them now, unless it is for shark bait. Just didn't like it that much I guess.

[fastpitch]

Just because its edible does't mean you should eat it. I wouldn't even step on a jack, much less eat it.

[Dino777]

Oh man just cut some steak sizes and fill up a bowl of milk and marinade fillets in milk for an hour pre cooking. Then bread them with tonys fish fry mix. Its simply amazing no joke!!!!

[Pecos]

I don't eat this...I don't eat that... Please!

First, how hungry are you? I am not saying I have the same obsession with full contact snacking that Andrew Zimmerman of "Bizarre Food" fame, but I've eaten more than my share of, shall we say, non mainstream foods from many different places in the world and MOST of it was danged good.

Tripas? (PORK intestines) Just had them for supper at La Placita Taqueria.

Roasted beetles, grubs, and yellowjackets? Started eating them in the summer of '66 at Buffalo Trail Scout Camp.

Poached diamondback salad with romalade sauce? 'Sho nuff tasty.

Dog wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in the ground? A special dish in Hawaii.

Possum ettoufe...if I didn't tell you what it was you would ask for seconds.

Etc., etc., etc......

Food wimps.

It IS how you cook it. Heck I cannot eat filet mignon if it is OVER cooked and I love beef. I mean I HATE calliflower no matter how it is prepared...I know this because I have tried it. That first taste of raw fish seems to be a pretty big step for most folks, but there sure are a lot of sushi places these days.

Assuming the seas go to 2/3s or less, I am going to target jack cravelle just so I can try this recipe. If I like it, it will be my new joke to make up an exotic name for jackfish and feed it to my food snob outdoor type buddies...the ones who have been eating the possum...and LIKING IT!

PECOS

[BeeGee]

Here is the exact recipe. I grill ALL my fish using this:

1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
1/4 stick butter melted
seasoned salt and pepper
zest at least 1/2 a lemon
1 T lemon juice
1/2 T minced garlic from a jar
for oily fish, a couple squirts of worcesteshire sauce
for salmon, a couple shakes of dill weed

I use a grill plate although it is not necessary for fish that "hold together" such as shark and jack. Spray it with cooking oil.

Preheat gas grill on high for 5 minutes

Dunk each piece of fish in the oil mixture. Use a basting brush to get the garlic and other goodies onto the fish. Throw it on the grill. If it doesnt look like you should call the fire dept, you are doing it wrong.

DO not OVERCOOK the fish. My suggestion is, when you think it is almost done, you are already there!

With the jack, specifically, I cooked it medium rare just like a steak and that is what it tasted like. And no, this one wasn't bled, but I can see how that would make it even better.

Bon Appetite!

[alldaylong]

I never caught or eaten Jack but, isn't AJ its cousin? I have a fishing buddy that if you even mention AJ, his eyes bug out and he starts panting like an overheated puppy. We have an offshore trip coming up in September, if we catch a jack, its worth at least the try just to see what it may be like. Like a couple of other comments on this thread, the worst it can be is awful and at best delicious.

[Dino777]

Originally Posted by alldaylong

I never caught or eaten Jack but, isn't AJ its cousin? I have a fishing buddy that if you even mention AJ, his eyes bug out and he starts panting like an overheated puppy. We have an offshore trip coming up in September, if we catch a jack, its worth at least the try just to see what it may be like. Like a couple of other comments on this thread, the worst it can be is awful and at best delicious.

The only thing awful is you being a Cowboy fan . LOL

[rvd]

Originally Posted by Ernest

When my father bought his first offshore boat in the early 70's, he had never been offshore fishing in the GOM. So, we go out. I'm like 8 years old. Find some shrimpers off Galveston, and catch up a whole mess of fish - kings, a ling, bonitos, and jacks. We iced them all down and came home.

Next door to our house was this family with these semi feral kids ranging from 6 to 10 years of age. Their parents left each day around 7:00 and returned in the evening, so the kids were alone all day eating ketchup sammies and hot dogs wrapped in wonder bread.

So, my Dad cleans the kings and the ling (which he knew were better eating), and then he went to work on the mystery fish - bonitos and jacks. Well, these feral kids were hanging around watching him clean fish, so first fillet off a jack he offers to the neighbor kids. They were delighted, immediately took it home and cooked it up. Just basted in butter and cooked on the stove.

They then returned and offered us some. It was not horrible, but seeing how we had all these kings and a nice ling, my Dad gave them fillets/steaks off three big jacks.

Next were the bonitos. Same routine. Neighbor kids cooked them up, and they loved them because compared to ketchup sammies, this was fine dinning. We tried them and politely declined after a couple quick bites. Bonito basted in butter and pan cooked is definitely an acquired taste. So, the kids got at least four bonitos.

That set the routine going forward. We always brought home at least some jacks or bonitos for the neighbors.

So, yeah, I've tried jacks. I still don't keep them.

"Semi feral kids" is one of the funniest lines I've read in a while. Good stuff!

[alldaylong]

Originally Posted by Dino777

The only thing awful is you being a Cowboy fan . LOL